Dinner Made Easy: A Blue Apron Giveaway

Meal delivery services are all the rage these days, and after trying it myself, I can see why! Here are some pics from a Blue Apron Chicken Scallopini meal we recently tried. (Here’s the recipe, by the way).

I was honestly skeptical at first, but when I got the box (that our sponsor Blue Apron so kindly sent me), I discovered the following:

What you get are made-from-scratch dinner recipes AND ingredients delivered to your door – perishables included!

All the ingredients are pre-measured. That means if a recipe calls for two carrots, they only send two carrots, which in my world helps eliminate food waste.

You can wait and be surprised when the box arrives, or you can look online in advance to see what they’re gonna send you (and even request a change or two). Either way, you can avoid the whole “What’s for dinner?” question and having to spend your time shopping for said dinner (my least favorite part of cooking at home).

The meals we tried were surprisingly good. My 7-year-old loved the pasta pictured above with the breadcrumbs on top so much that she asked if she could have it for breakfast the next morning. She’s a funny girl. :)

I love that this type of service pushes me to try some new cooking techniques and even some new foods I don’t normally buy. On that note, it helps if whomever you’re cooking for is somewhat open minded!

I found that most of what they sent me followed our real food rules, and it was easy enough to substitute the couple of things that didn’t (like 1/2 cup of flour here, 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs there). I would imagine those who are not quite as hard core as we are about the real food lifestyle would be completely satisfied without making any substitutions.

If you’re interested in giving it a go, be sure to enter our giveaway below. ALSO they’re offering a sweet deal to the first 100 of our readers who order – you’ll get two free meals! So, get on it by clicking here.

Now I also want to share something fun we did with the very first box they sent me (the one pictured above was actually the third one we’ve tried). When the first box arrived back in December, I quickly realized they sent me meals with only two servings, not four. What a bummer to spend time making dinner and not have enough for the whole family, right? So, I actually turned it into a game one night and told the kids we were going to divide into two teams and each cook one of the meals. I let them draw either “Mom” or “Dad” out of a hat and pick one of the recipes (which are full of colorful pictures and easy to follow, by the way) so we could all cook together! Of course, it created a big mess, but it was SO much fun.

We actually enjoyed it so much we decided to host a similar “Holiday Cook Off” with my husband’s family the following week when they came into town for Christmas. I thought to myself, “I could come up with three different meals and buy all the various ingredients OR I could click a couple things on my computer and know it was all on the way.” So, I of course just ordered (i.e., purchased) another Blue Apron box, which arrived on Christmas Eve. We had three teams with two people each, and just for fun, I even made little scorecards. As you can see in the pics, everyone got involved! And it was most definitely enjoyed by all. :)

Giveaway Details

One winner will be awarded 4 weeks of the family plan, including 2 recipes per week – a $280 value!Winner must live within Blue Apron delivery zones.

Whether you are looking to switch things up in the kitchen and try out some new recipes or are really busy (um, aren’t we all?!) and are excited about not having to plan, shop, etc., this would be such a fun prize package to win.

This contest is now closed.

How to Enter Giveaway

If you would like to enter the contest, please read and follow these rules:

Contest will end at 11:59 PM EST on March 4, 2015. Make sure you enter your email address correctly so we can contact you if you win!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.Chances of winning depend on the number of entries. Entries will be chosen at random. Giveaway winner will be contacted on or around March 4th via email. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, he or she will be disqualified and a new winner will be chosen. We may share your first name, last initial, and comment publicly but will not share any other information with anyone except to facilitate shipment of your prizes, which will be shipped directly from the respective vendor. 100 Days of Real Food will not use your email address for anything other than contacting you about this giveaway, however if you sign up for our partner’s newsletter, you will be agreeing to their terms regarding their use of your email address. Giveaway open to US residents only, aged 18 or over, residing within Blue Apron delivery zones. We are not liable for errors stemming from lost/delayed e-mail, posting or typographical errors, technical failures, etc. Void where prohibited by law. This giveaway is being held by Leake, LLC doing business as 100 Days of Real Food. We may be reached at info{at}100daysofrealfood{dot}com.

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The Filipino style beef picadillo sounds yummy and similar to something I ate a lot in Costa Rica. All the meals look delicious, but the international cuisine excites me the most since I don’t always know the cooking techniques or have the ingredients to make them. Yay for Blue Apron! Here’s hoping…..

My mouth is watering just thinking about the lemon butter shrimp with tomato rice and arugula orange salad. I don’t think I would ever make this without the handholding support of something like blue apron. I want so badly to try though! Fingers crossed

I have been a loyal follower of your site and have encouraged many of my friends and colleges to do the same, however I am questioning my own advise as I sit here tonight.
We signed up for Blue Apron due to your recommendation. I have to tell you I’ve never been so disappointed. We live in Chicago and it’s just my husband and I so the idea is brilliant on multiple levels. However the items we have received have been so disappointing. For example (and this is just today) processed white flour hot dog buns (think wonder bread) for the “shrimp roll”. I would love to send a picture but your website does not allow it. That is just one example. The quality of the produce put me over the edge when a totally rotted out watermelon was delivered, we are talking a 3×3 rotten hole in the watermelon, so gross. Which brings to question their sourcing. I also question why 100 Days of Real Food would support a service that does not provide 100% real food.

I really think you should reconsider you association with this service. The idea is great however if you actually did more than a week of their service you would realize the majority of their foods are not only not organic or non gmo, they are straight up processed items (portioned processed items).

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